The UDAR look-around technology was introduced for the first time in the Umm-Gudair (UG) field in the West Kuwait region. The UDAR technology solution offers a proactive approach to mapping current oil-water contact (COWC) while drilling. Hence it eliminates the conventional approach for drilling a pilot hole. The UDAR family has been enriched with a look-ahead capability. The reservoir in UG field was currently being produced with more than 57 years of production history. Because of its long production history and variable water drawdown in a different part of the field, undulating current oil-water contact (COWC), and the uncertainty of the position of the COWC, there were concerns.
The utilization of the UDAR solution and its application evolved from a look-around to a look-ahead capability. A discussion about this evolution will be shared along with the lessons learned from the predrilling feasibility study, execution, and post-analysis results. The paper will also reveal the potential applications for UDAR technology for 3D mapping application.
The lessons learned from UDAR look-around, UDAR look-ahead and UDAR 3D mapping technologies on the tested case study wells give insight into the selection criteria for using these three technologies. The selection criteria are driven by the prognosis of the position of the well relative to the projected COWC based on offset well data. The threshold distance should be 30 to 40 ft total vertical depth (TVD) from COWC to ensure production sustainability.
